Rugby team of University of Stellenbosch celebrates their victory ©University of Stellenbosch
University Sports South Africa president Ilhaam Groenewald says she’s thrilled with the state of university sport in the country following the culmination of the 2018 USSA championships.
The championships, which took place at various university campuses across the country, involved a number of different sporting codes, with the top university athletes from the 26 tertiary institutes in South Africa battling for top honours on the court, field, road and ring. Various sporting codes involved an ‘A’ and ‘B’ section, with the competition evenly matched across the various tournaments, ensuring an entertaining and competitive atmosphere among rival universities.
Groenewald said she was pleased with the level of competition, which has in the past, and continues at present, to provide a springboard for many of South Africa’s future global stars.
“The national university tournaments remain a competitive space with any member university having the opportunity to clinch a title or be promoted to a higher section,” Groenewald told FISU. “The opposite is true too for relegation due to totally underestimating your opponents who might have been quietly preparing to improve results. It is however not just about completion, but also displaying the most amazing talents of our student-athletes who might in the near future represent our respective senior national teams as many of them currently are doing so.”
Ilhaam Groenewald, President of University Sports South Africa ©University of Stellenbosch
Planning and organising such tournaments was no easy task, with USSA’s president praising the efforts of the various organising committees, volunteers and officials, a sign which bodes well in light of South Africa’s aim to host a Summer Universiade in the near future.
“Our games further represent a platform to develop skills and providing on-the-job learning for volunteers,” she continued. “With the employment of many officials, with that support of our provincial and national sport federations, we provide an opportunity to the officials to put their training to the test with some highly capable expertise forming part of our technical responsibilities.”
Traditional sporting powerhouses University of Pretoria (nicknamed Tuks), University of Johannesburg (UJ) and University of Stellenbosch (Maties) were the big overall winners of the championships, with the latter taking gold in rugby – retaining ther crown following a one-sided 52-10 victory over Tuks – badminton and cycling, their fourth gold in this event in as many years.
Tuks claimed honours in netball and women’s hockey, where they defended their title, while UJ were victorious in women’s football and squash, where they won their seventh USSA title in a row.
Groenewald admits there were some challenges in hosting the different tournament in various campuses across South Africa, but is pleased to see the sport in the country at university level is alive and well, and most importantly, growing.
“Our tournaments continue to grow and improve based on its diversity of sport codes, demographics, gender and age,” she said. “Of course we had challenges in hosting 24 tournaments in six different provinces across South Africa, but we continue to learn and grow. The focus however must remain on creating more opportunities and that is what we are committed to.”
The University of the Free State won the USSA tennis championship for an 11th year in a row ©Bloemfontein Courant
Winners from selected tournaments at the 2018 USSA Championships
| Badminton | University of Stellenbosch | Basketball (Men) | Vaal University of Technology |
| Basketball (Women) | Vaal University of Technology | Boxing | University of KwaZulu-Natal |
| Cycling | University of Stellenbosch | Dance | University of KwaZulu-Natal |
| Football (Men) | University of KwaZulu-Natal | Football (Women) | University of Johannesburg |
| Golf | Nelson Mandela University | Hockey (Women) | University of Pretoria |
| Hockey (Men) | University of Cape Town | Netball | University of Pretoria |
| Rugby | University of Stellenbosch | Squash | University of Johannesburg |
| Tennis | University of the Free State |
